Siobhan Haughey back to Olympic-sized ambitions as she leads Hong Kong at Mare Nostrum Tour

Double Olympic medallist returns to long-course pool for first time since Tokyo Games in three-leg series, with Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom among her rivals

Hong Kong sends four swimmers to the series as they prepare for next month’s World Championships in Budapest

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Siobhan Haughey’s races in the tour will include the two in which she won her silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:46pm, 20 May 2022Updated: 5:06pm, 20 May 2022

Star swimmer Siobhan Haughey will be back in a long-course pool for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics when she leads Hong Kong’s challenge in the Mare Nostrum Tour, which starts on Saturday.

Top Europeans will feature in the three-leg event, beginning with a two-day meet in Monaco before it continues with two days in Barcelona and wraps up in Canet-en-Roussillon in the south of France.

Haughey, who won two Olympic silver medals in Tokyo last summer, will be competing in the freestyle sprinting events over 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres, and faces a stiff test from the likes of Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, the world record holder over 50 and 100 metres.

Sjostrom leads a strong field for the 50 metres, for which Haughey is joined by Hong Kong teammate Camille Cheng Lily-mei. But the Swede has not entered the 100 and 200 metres, the two events in which Haughey reached the Tokyo podium, and the Hongkonger is the fastest entrant on paper.

Siobhan Haughey collects her 100 metres freestyle medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: EPA-EFE

For most of the Hong Kong swimmers, the priority in the Mediterranean series is to get their competition sharpness back in preparation for the World Championships in Budapest between June 18 and July 3. Opportunities to compete have been limited for some of them, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.